Odisha eves finish 4th in Jr (Div-A) Hockey
Bhubaneswar: In the hardline match Jharkhand defeated Hockey Odisha 3-1 via penalty shoot out to finish third in the championship and Odisha eves to satisfy with fourth place in the 4th Hockey India Jr. Women National Championship 2014 ( Division A ) at Chamundi vihar Astro turf Ground in Mysore on Sunday. Defending Champions Haraya retains its champion title as they defeated Madhya Pradesh Hockey Academy 2-0. Jharkhand and Hockey Odisha both the teams showcased great strength by their attack as well as defense in the entire match. Both the teams kept the attack in the entire match but failed to score any goal in the regulation time, after which match went to Penalty Shootout round. While Jharkhand failed to convert the first two penalty shootout they finally came back in the game by scoring the past 3 shootout. It was Rajni Soreng, Kanti Pradhan and Sitamani Topno who finally went past the goalkeeper and pounded the ball in the goal post giving them the much required win and 3rd position in the tournament. On the other hand Hockey Odisha were unable to keep their nerves and they failed to score in the 1st three shootouts. It was Sarojini Ekka who scored the lone goal in the shootout and which was not enough for the win. Results: Jharkhand 3 Rajni Soreng, Kanti Pradhan and Sitamani Topno (Penalty Shootout) bt Hockey Odisha 1 Sarojini Ekka
BAO to host National Jr Baseball from March 27
Bhubaneswar: Armature Baseball Federation of India has allotted the 25th Junior National Baseball Championship to Baseball Association of Odisha (BAO). BOA is all set to host the championship at Satyabrata Stadium in Cuttack from March 27 to 31. In this context BOA organised a preparatory meeting at Cuttack on Sunday. Altogether 25 States would participate in both boys and girls categories. In the 24th edition Odisha boys and girls finished fourth. BAO secretary Sibananda Pradhan, ABFI vice-president Pankaj lochan Mohanty, organizing secretary Anjan Kumar Khuntia, Subash Swain, Ashok Barik and Manoj Patnaik were present.
Semifinalists spotted in AITA Championship series
Bhubaneswar: Top four seeds in both boys’ and girls’ singles justified their status by reaching semifinals of the AITA-OTPPA Championship Series U-14 Tennis Tournament here at Kalinga Stadium on Sunday. In boys’ semifinals, top seed Kushal Yadla (AP) will meet third seed and local favourite Mahesh Mohapatra, while second seed CH Sree Harshit will take on his Andhra Pradesh statemate and fourth seed K Ashish Anand on Monday. The girls’ last-four encounters will pit top seed Bhavya Ramineni (AP) against third seed and local challenger Alisha Samal and second seed Adrija Biswas (WB) against fourth seed BlS Rithika (AP). Unlike the opening day, matches were more competitive in both the categories on the penultimate day. While most of the 48 matches on the opening day were lop-sided affair, eight out of 24 matches went to third set or second-set tie-breaker on Sunday. Pratyush Mohanty, Rahul Behera, Kabir Hans, Amrutjay Mohanty (all Odisha); Asish Sinha (WB) among boys and Maanya Viswanath, Geethika Palle (both AP); Sanya Yadav, Megha Roy (both WB); Rutuparna Choudhury, Anaam Almas (both Odisha) among girls put up stiff fight before losing to respective opponents.
RESUlTS: BOYS’ SINGlES: Pre-quarterfinals: Kushal Yadla (AP) bt Pratyush Mohanty (Odi) 4-1, 5-4 (2); Asish Sinha (WB) bt lada Govind Tudu (Odi) 4-1, 4-2; Mahesh Mohapatra (Odi) bt D Aryan Swamy (Odi) 4-0, 4-1; Mohammad Fardeen (WB) bt Rahul Behera (Odi) 4-2, 2-4, 7-1; Aditya R Chowdhary Vardhan (WB) bt Srivinay Chappa (AP) 4-0, 4-1; K Ashish Anand (AP) bt Amaan Wasim (WB) 4-1, 4-2; Amrutjay Mohanty (Odi) bt Kabir Hans (Odi) 4-0, 2-4, 8-6; CH Sree Harshit (AP) bt Aonjaneya Banerjee (WB) 4-0, 4-0. Quarterfinals: K Yadla bt A Sinha 4-1, 5-4 (2); M Mohapatra bt M Fardeen 4-0, 4-2; KA Anand (AP) bt ARC Vardhan 4-1, 4-1; CHS Harshit bt A Mohanty 3-5, 4-1, 7-5.
GIRlS’ SINGlES: Pre-quarterfinals: Bhavya Ramineni (AP) bt Nikhar Chaudhuri (WB) 4-1, 4-1; Megha Roy (WB) bt Sonali Jaiswal (AP) 4-2, 4-1; Alisha Samal (Odi) bt Manoneeta Banerjee (WB) 4-0, 4-2; Rutuparna Choudhury (Odi) bt Punyatoya Mohapatra (WB) 4-1, 4-2; Anaam Almas (Odi) bt Maanya Viswanath (AP) 0-4, 4-1, 8-6; BlS Rithika (AP) bt Geethika Palle (AP) 4-1, 5-4 (5); Ishika Gupta (WB) bt Sanya Yadav (WB) 5-4 (4), 4-1; Adrija Biswas (WB) bt Ankita Panda (Odi) 4-1, 4-0. Quarterfinals: B Ramineni bt M Roy 2-4, 4-0, 7-3; A Samal bt R Choudhury 4-0, 2-4, 7-3; BlS Rithika bt A Almas 1-4, 4-2, 11-9; A Biswas bt I Gupta 4-1, 5-3.
Jayakumar bags FIDE Rating Chess title
Bhubaneswar: S Jayakumar of Tamil Nadu defeated local favorite Saina Salonika in the ninth and final round and scored 8.5 points and emerged champion in the 2nd BBSR All India FIDE Rating Chess Championship - 2014 (1899 and below), which concluded here on Sunday, being organised by Khurda District Chess Association (KDCA) under the aegis of All Odisha Chess Association (AOCA). Jayakumar registered seven victories, a draw and topped the point table. He was followed by Saina who gathered 7.5 points and bagged the runners-up trophy. The champion received the trophy along with cash prize of Rs 20,000 and the runners-up took home Rs 15,000.
Another Odisha player Ashirwad Swain scored 7.5 points and finished fourth, while Ashutosh Kumar of Bihar and J Charles of Tamil Nadu scored 7.5 points each and completed the meet with third and fourth place respectively. Postal Assistant Superintendent Debri Prasad Nayak distributed the prizes as the chief guest of the closing ceremony. Among others, Puri Head Post Office, postmaster Prasant Kumar Patra, AOCA joint-secretary Manoj Kumar Panigrahi, executive member GC Mohapatra, development committee convener Satyaranjan Pattnaik and KDCA secretary Subhasis Patnaik were present.